Running on Empty
by Moon Ecstasy
Summary: Akimichi Chouza knows that food isn't the only thing humans need to survive. There are other hungers that need to be met and people are never meant to be alone. Second in my "Of Children and Monsters" compilation.


Second in my "Of Children and Monsters" compilation; the first being Of Children and Monsters; the third being Underneath.

.o.

_All empty souls tend toward extreme opinions. William Butler Yeats_

.o._  
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Akimichi Chouza stared disbelievingly at his long time friend and team member. There was a part of him that wanted to deny that his friend was even saying this. The rest of him understood that his friend was very shaken and that he was telling the truth.

"How," he slumped further into his chair, forgetting the food in front of him for once, "There's no way... it... he... we can't have been that wrong." It was impossible that the fox hadn't been able to devour the child. He had been a defenceless baby! He had no power to stop the fox from consuming him... yet Yamanaka Inoichi was telling them...

"We were; the child is not the demon. The demon is locked up behind a seal so powerful that it would take the boy himself to release it, nothing else could, especially not the demon itself."

"Of course not," muttered Nara Shikaku, "You guys really had so little faith in the Yondaime? He was a seal master and he made that seal himself."

Both Chouza and Inoichi turned to stare at Skikaku, "You mean you knew?"

"Knew what? That Uzumaki's a kid and not a monster? It was obvious from the beginning."

"And you never tried to tell us?"

Shikaku sighed deeply, meeting Chouza's then Inoichi's eyes, before he sighed again and straightened. "I could tell that no amount of rationality would get you two to believe me if you didn't believe the Yondaime. I didn't want to risk ripping our friendship in half when neither of you acted on your hate. If you had, I would have acted, but as it stood, I didn't want to rock the waters."

Neither of them had anything to say to that. It was true, their friendship probably would have been severely shaken had Shikaku tried to force them to see the truth before they were ready.

They sat in silence.

.o.

Chouza had always been a family man. He loved his wife dearly. He loved his boy Chouji. He loved all his surviving clan and more to the point he loved all of his family that had been lost during the Kyuubi attack.

The Akimichi clan had once been the largest clan in Konoha under the Uchiha and Hyuuga clans. The Kyuubi attack had changed that. Over half of their clan had been decimated by the fox; his parents, his sister, and his three brothers among the dead.

Worse was how close he had come to loosing Chouji and his wife.

Seeing the... child had been a constant reminder of all those he had lost. How dare that monster still be alive when almost all of his loved ones had been killed. This had been his mind-frame for six years. Now one of his best friends had said that the boy was in no way the monster. And Iniochi would know. He had been inside the boys mind. That his other best friend, a very intelligent man, only supported this knowledge had forced him to re-evaluate his opinions.

That was why he was doing what he was doing at this moment. Following a blonde, blue, and orange bundle of energy as the child went about his daily routine.

In the morning he had left through his window from an apartment that looked as though it had never seen better days, before heading out of the slums of Konoha, sticking to the shadows.

He made his way to the Hokage tower, slipping by Chunnin who were supposed to keep all civilians out. They didn't even notice the kid; the kid decked out in outrageously bright orange. He actually made it into the Hokage's office to Chouza's surprise and he wasn't kicked out immediately.

After awhile he came back out saying behind him, "Thanks Jiji-sama!"

The Hokage smiled from where he stood at the door, "Remember to get your starter kit at that store I told you about, they have good deals."

The child vanished with a bright smile and the Sandaime looked over to where Chouza was standing, the warm smile he had given the blonde slipping into a thoughtful frown.

"Starter kits for the Academy are all the same no matter which weapons store the boy goes to, Hokage-sama."

The Sandaime nodded sadly, "Yes, but the store I sent him to is run by a man who views him as he should be viewed. Miyamoto Musashi won't overcharge or sell faulty weapons."

"What do you mean by 'as he should be viewed?"

For a moment the Hokage said nothing and merely puffed his pipe. Then he turned back into his office, saying over his shoulder in a tone that made it seem like it should have been obvious, "A hero."

.o.

Chouza caught up to the boy outside the Musashi weapons store. Miyamoto Musashi's parents had given him that name in the hopes that he would become a ninja of unrivalled power. He didn't however, due to a tendency to lose his lunch at the sight of too much blood. So he became a weapon smith of almost unrivalled talent instead.

The boy came out with a pack on his shoulder that was the Academy required starter kit. He had an odd look on his face, as though something strange had happened. When Chouza managed to hear what he was mumbling he faltered in his steps.

"I can't believe it was so cheap! I have enough for dinner tonight!"

Cheap? The starter kits were all the same prices no matter where you went because they were made with the same material and they were issued by the Academy itself. They weren't exactly cheap though. How much had the others tried to over-charge him?

And didn't all orphans receive a stipend that took care of necessities? How could it be such a surprise to have enough for dinner? It felt like a slap to the face. The treatment of this boy was horrific... and he had only recently been one of the many who wouldn't have cared to even notice.

He watched the boy wind his way through the town and came to a decision. With a swirl of leaves he vanished only to reappear in front of the boy. Without enough time to dodge, the boy fell to the ground.

"Hey you!" Apparently the boy had quite a set of lungs, "Don't just appear out of nowhere! People are walking here!" The boy pointed an accusing finger at him and Chouza chuckled at the picture of self-righteous anger that the boy made.

"Sorry, my bad," he replied, holding out a hand to help the kid up. The boy gave him a brief suspicious look before smiling brightly as he had been before. Chouza wondered if the smile the boy wore was real or fake. For all his experience reading people, he couldn't tell. "I know! You can make it up to me by buying me ramen!"

Here Chouza did laugh. The kid had balls that was for sure. It worked though. It would have been odd for him to invite the child out for food... even if the child was obviously hungry. Under those puffy orange clothes he didn't seem to be much more than skin and bones.

"Sure kid..."

"Yatta!" the joyful shout interrupted him as the kid jumped into the air and pumped his fists. Then he turned around and smiled wickedly, "The name's Uzumaki Naruto, the soon-to-be next Hokage! Just watch me!"

.o.

The chi-Naruto had boundless energy it seemed. He seemed to have come to a conclusion about something beyond Chouza's keen, and once that conclusion was reached he had opened up. He talked of his dream to be Hokage, though he wouldn't say why. He talked of how he was going to be a strong ninja. He talked about his love for ramen and why frogs were the coolest creature ever.

And as he talked Chouza realized something himself. Naruto was hungry. He was starving. But not just for food. He was starving for companionship; for friends; for acknowledgement. He was starving for people to just notice him, even if they didn't pay much attention. He wanted to be looked at, stared at, recognized. It didn't even matter if it was good or bad attention, the boy wanted it.

But he knew it wasn't because Naruto was vain. The boy was so ignored, so mistreated; it was as though he didn't exist to most of the people in the village.

Now that he was seeing the boy in a new light the 'Oh-God-Kill-Me' orange, the louder-than-an-explosion voice, the pranks that the boy was starting to become known for; they were all his attempts to get people to look at him, to fill the void within.

Inoichi had said Naruto was alone, that he needed companions; people to talk to on a regular basis; friends. He had, of course, been right. The boy was running on empty. There were barely any fumes to keep him going, but he still kept doing so.

As Naruto finished his bowl of noodles and asked for another, quite brazenly, Chouza smiled. He would notice the boy. He would pay attention. And he would let the boy know that he was paying attention; he would let the boy know that he was acknowledged.

"Next time I'll bring my son Chouji. You might get along with him, he loves ramen too."

Naruto's brilliant smile showed him that he was finally doing the right thing.


End file.
